Author Archives: MIchael O'Brien

By Councillor Michael O’Brien While the headlines are full of the news of Ryanair flight cancellations (400,000 more passengers affected on the basis of the announcement on 27 September) what lies behind this crisis is the shameful treatment by Ryanair of its workers. The pilots at Ryanair have mutinied against their pay and working conditions. They deserve the support and ...

By Councillor Michael O’Brien On 16 December activists with the Irish Housing Network along with others in the #HomeSweetHome group forcibly entered the vacant Apollo House office block and converted it into a hostel for the homeless. In doing so they tapped into a strong mood of anger in wider society over the ever-growing scandal of homelessness and rough sleeping ...

Statement from AAA councillor and Socialist Party member Michael O’Brien on the occupation of Apollo House by housing rights activists with “Home Sweet Home” Press statement: Councillor Michael O’Brien, Anti Austerity Alliance, Beaumont Donaghmede ward, Dublin City Council Emergency motion submitted for tomorrow’s Dublin City Council North Central Area Committee meeting in Coolock calling for official recognition of Apollo House ...

By Councillor Michael O’Brien The vicious harassment of the sick and unemployed by the Tory government in Britain provoked legendary director Ken Loach, now 80 years of age, to come out of retirement to make one more film. And what a film! ‘I, Daniel Blake’ tells the story of the eponymous character, a carpenter in his late fifties in Newcastle ...

The Fine Gael minority government was forced to suspend water charges. Michael O’Brien argues that this is a result of the protest movement that emerged in late 2014, the subsequent mass boycott of the charge and the fundamental weakness of this right-wing administration.

By Cllr Michael O’Brien The pressure is building up for a restoration of public service pay after a succession of attacks during the economic crisis. The Lansdowne Road agreement which was passed by the public service unions in May 2015 provided for an average restoration of about one third of the pay that was taken away from public servants in ...

Michael O’Brien, AAA councillor and Socialist Party member The confidence anti-water charges activists derived from Irish Water and the government’s reticence about revealing the payment figures for the first water bill has proven to be well founded. On Tuesday, an admission came confirming a 57% boycott of the first bill, representing around 860,000 households out of the 1.52 million they ...

By Cllr. Michael O’Brien Sharp lessons have been learnt by anti-water charges campaigners in the course of the last six months about the role of the repressive arm of the state (Gardai, judiciary and prisons) when it comes to curbing effective protest tactics like blockading ministerial cars and preventing meter installation. One law for the working class… For many people ...